Small White Bugs????

[Crowfingers]

Woke up this morning to a poo-splosion. As I was cleaning up the mess, I saw some very tiny white bugs crawling on the feces and urates, they are a little smaller than fruit gnats and move fairly quick for such a small bug. I looked online, and everything I found would suggest that these are wood mites, not parasitic snake mites. However, Mashadar has seemed a little restless the past three days, switching hides more during the day...but with it being so cold he also has not been out to explore either, so I don't know if these things are annoying him or if he's just wanting to explore.

Either way, I want them GONE! Is provent-a-mite or natural chemistry reptile spray safer/more effective?

Also want to mention that I looked over every inch of my snake and did not see anything on him, no 'track marks' on his abdominal scales, no irritation or raised scales near his vent or heat pits, and nothing near his eyes. He's not soaking in his bowl. He is on cypress mulch and has sphagnum moss in one damp hide since he is starting to get a pink belly. I kept the mulch in the freezer for 2 days before using it.

Temps are:
directly on top of hot hide 90.2
in hot hide 88.7
moist hide 85.5
ambient temp 81.5-82.5
cool hide 82.6
humidity 64% on hot side, 57% on cool side

[Bcycling]

Could it just be a bug that came in on the mulch?

[Albert Clark]

If you want them gone then yeah I would use provent a mite on all my reptile enclosures. The natural chemistry can be sprayed directly onto the reptiles sparingly and avoiding the face and head. Or if you care to it can be wiped on with a clean cloth. I would toss everything in the enclosures that can't be soaked in bleach. I would trash everything made of wood. Remove all water bowls or water sources in the enclosures. All the reptiles can go in snake bags after they are sprayed. Leave the proventamite treated enclosure overnite so it can adequately air out. Don't put the reptiles back in until the following day. This will safeguard your animals and the overnite application will maximize the effects of proventamite. Repeat the procedure in 3 weeks to kill the possibility of eggs and or residual mites.

[Crowfingers]

Everything can be bleached, and I only have one snake. However, I don't have snake bags or bins, and even if I did, I have no way to heat them. I use a CHE and nighttime bulb, no UTH. I do have reptile shipping heat pads, but they are my emergency heat for if the power goes out. I'm not trying to argue, I just don't want my snake to spend 24 hours stressed out and possibly cold if there is any other way. My house barley maintains 68 degrees in the warmenst room.

Would it be possible to get new mulch, treat that in a seperate bin and leave it for 24-48 hours to dry, then change out everything in the cage and replace the mulch?
I use terra cotta pots for 2 of my hides, are these ok to bleach or will they absorb it? The other hides and water bowl are either resin (exoterra hides or glass).

If the mites are not the parasitic ones, I assume it won't hurt to wait the three to four days it'll take for the new mulch and PAM to get here

[piedlover79]

If the wood mites bother you I'd suggest switching to a different substrate. No sense banging you head against the wall constantly trying to kill off wood mites only to buy more mulch and bring more into the house.

If you really like your mulch you can always cook it to 200 degrees in the oven and let it cool before using it, or you can freeze it. Wood mites are so much easier to kill than blood mites.

[Snake Judy]

It sounds like springtails to me if they're going after the feces. They often hitch a ride in on sphagnum or mulch. They're perfectly harmless - in fact, I add them in to my enclosure intentionally because it's planted and they eat waste and mold and keep everything nice and clean.

As long as you're sure they're not parasitic I wouldn't stress about it or go crazy with PAM or anything. Just give everything a good cleaning. If you want to keep any wood decor just toss it in the oven on a low setting (~200F) for an hour or so. You can do the same thing with the mulch if you want. Don't do this with the terra cotta since it might explode, but diluted bleach should be fine provided you let it dry completely (probably for a couple of days at least).

[Crowfingers]

Thanks for all the replies. I don't think that they are blood mites, these are white and look almost like fruit flies without wings. I'd get a picture, but I don't have a camera that can focus that well. I searched the whole tank and only found them in the damp substrate under his pile of feces and urine. He has a very clean white belly with no markings, and there was not a single dot on him, I even looked with a magnifying glass.

The strange thing is, I froze his mulch for two days then let it dry before putting it in his tank. The branches he has were soaked in bleach, then fresh water for days and allowed to dry. The only thing I didn't freeze was his sphagnum moss.

If the consensus is that they are harmless detritus eaters, then I guess that's fine and I won't expose him to chemicals...

the same thing happened with my planted goldfish tank. Suddenly saw all these little worms while planting new moss, freaked out and de-wormed the tank 4 times, convinced that the fish had roundworms, only to find out later that they are non-parasitic organisms that feed on bacteria and fungus in the soil.....

[That_One_New_Guy]

Sounds like springtails to me. They are all good. They eat the poop. And keeps mold off your wood stuff. They don't hurt anything cept the mold. Which is better for everybody

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